At present, Shanghai is experiencing a complex and severe epidemic prevention and control situation. The whole city is working together, gritting the teeth, and working together to win this tough battle of epidemic prevention and control; however, at the critical moment of epidemic prevention and control, there are always people trying to Publish rumors that create anxiety and cause panic:
These "unfounded" rumors are easily compiled and circulated, and spread from person to person like a virus with "legged legs". They can easily trigger social panic and endanger social and public order.
Epidemic prevention and control is everyone’s responsibility. Cyberspace is not a place outside the law. We must not let the "rumor virus" arise again before the epidemic virus is eliminated, let alone let the "rumor virus" interfere with the overall situation of epidemic prevention and control. To this end, young criminal prosecutors from the Criminal Tribunal of Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court sorted out the legal responsibilities for spreading rumors. They hope that everyone will consciously refrain from spreading rumors, believe rumors, and spread rumors under the epidemic situation.
01
Infringement of the legitimate rights and interests of others
Bearing civil liability
Anyone who fabricates and spreads rumors on the Internet to demean the personality of others, such as using rumored information to fabricate rumors about others or insulting or intimidating others, may bear civil liability. The Civil Code's regulation of online rumors focuses on protecting citizens' rights to reputation, honor, privacy, etc. Internet users who cause harm to others' reputations by spreading rumors should apologize to others and compensate others for the losses they have suffered due to reputation infringement; Internet users who use the Internet to infringe other people's other civil rights and interests should also bear corresponding tort liability . If
fabricates and spreads online rumors to infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of others, the responsible parties are not limited to the fabricators and disseminators of the rumors, but also include network service providers. When victims are victimized by online rumors, they have the right to notify the network service provider to take necessary measures such as deletion, blocking, and disconnection. After receiving the notice, the network service provider shall promptly forward the notice to the relevant network users and take necessary measures based on the preliminary evidence constituting the infringement and the type of service; if necessary measures are not taken in a timely manner, the expanded part of the damage shall be borne by the infringing network user. Joint and several liability. In addition, if a network service provider knows or should know that a network user is using the network services it provides to infringe the civil rights of others and fails to take necessary measures, it shall bear joint and several liability with the infringing network user.
02
Disturbing public order
Administrative liability cannot be evaded
According to the provisions of the "Public Security Management Punishment Law", spread rumors, falsely report dangerous situations, epidemics, police situations, or deliberately disturb public order in other ways, as well as release false explosive, poisonous, radioactive, Corrosive substances or infectious disease pathogens and other dangerous substances that disturb public order shall be detained for not less than 5 days and not more than 10 days in accordance with the law, and may also be fined not more than 500 yuan. If the circumstances are relatively minor, they shall be detained for not more than 5 days or fined not more than 500 yuan.
For example, during the epidemic, a WeChat chat screen recording video of "Yesterday's outbreak of the epidemic in Shanghai" was circulated on the Internet. The police attached great importance to it and found the video publisher Dong Moumou (male, 42 years old) through traceability. Dong Moumou admitted that he was dissatisfied because his pet store was persuaded by the market supervision department to suspend operations, so he made up a voice message about "Shanghai epidemic outbreak" and sent it to his friends' WeChat group, which later caused a negative impact on the Internet. According to the above regulations, the police made a 10-day administrative detention decision for Dong Moumou's illegal behavior of fabricating facts and disrupting public order.
03
The circumstances are particularly serious
Pursue criminal liability
The "Criminal Law" regulates online rumors, not only for criminal acts that infringe on national interests and social public interests, but also for criminal acts that infringe on the personal rights of citizens.
01
The crime of fabricating and deliberately disseminating false information
fabricating false dangers, epidemics, disasters, and police situations, and disseminating them on information networks or other media, or knowingly disseminating the above-mentioned false information on information networks or other media, seriously disrupting society If the violation of public order constitutes the crime of fabricating or deliberately spreading false information, the person may be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance. If serious consequences are caused, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years.
02
The crime of defamation
On the Internet, if you fabricate facts that harm the reputation of others or tamper with the original information content involving others on the Internet into facts that harm the reputation of others, and spread it on the Internet or instruct others to spread it on the Internet, and the circumstances are serious, it constitutes the crime of defamation. He may be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, surveillance or deprivation of political rights. Those who knowingly spread the facts on the Internet that harm others' reputations are fabricated, and the circumstances are egregious, shall be punished for fabricating facts to slander others. When the same defamatory information is actually clicked or viewed more than 5,000 times, or forwarded more than 500 times, it can be considered a crime.
03
The crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble
Anyone who insults or intimidates others on the Internet with egregious circumstances and disrupts social order shall constitute the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Anyone who gathers others to commit such acts multiple times and seriously disrupts social order may be sentenced to up to ten years in prison.
In addition, it needs to be added that criminal gangs that organize or hire Internet "maritime forces" to threaten, intimidate, insult, slander, and harass others online, if they meet the legal conditions, may be punished according to the "On Handling Underworld and Evil Forces" issued by the two departments, the High People's Government and the People's Government of China. "Guiding Opinions on Several Issues in Criminal Cases" stipulates that criminals are identified as evil forces and must be severely punished when constituting the above-mentioned related crimes.
At present, Shanghai is mobilizing the whole city to fight the epidemic together, and we need to work together to overcome the difficulties. Here, the young people who know the sentence from the Criminal Tribunal of Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court issue the following initiative to everyone. We firmly believe that with everyone's joint efforts, the "spring cold" will eventually end, and we will finally usher in a bright spring tomorrow.
Reprinted from Shanghai No. 1 Middle Court
Source: Shanghai Rule of Law News
